1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to medical catheters, and more particularly to a multiple lumen catheter having an articulable septum extension.
2. Description of the Related Art
Catheters are flexible medical instruments for use in the introduction and withdrawal of fluids to and from body cavities, ducts and vessels. Catheters are used for many different applications within the human body including the administration of liquid therapeutic agents and the removal of bodily fluids for testing, monitoring, or disposal. Catheters have a particular application in hemodialysis procedures, in which blood is withdrawn from a blood vessel, directed to a hemodialysis unit for dialysis or purification, and subsequently returned to the blood vessel.
Typically, dialysis catheters define at least two lumens including a venous lumen and an arterial lumen. The arterial lumen withdraws blood from the patient and delivers the blood to a dialyzer. The venous lumen receives purified blood from the dialyzer and returns the blood to the patient. The venous and arterial lumens may include distal openings adjacent the tip of the catheter. In addition, the venous and arterial lumens may also include side openings which provide redundant or alternate flow paths to and from the arterial and venous lumens.
The efficiency of a hemodialysis procedure may be reduced by recirculation of blood flow at a distal end of the catheter. Recirculation occurs when dialyzed blood exiting the venous lumen is drawn directly back into the arterial lumen of the catheter. To overcome this drawback, some catheter devices stagger the openings of the catheter lumens such that the opening of the venous lumen is disposed distally beyond the opening of the arterial lumen. These catheter devices, however, also suffer from various additional drawbacks. For example, the staggered openings of the venous lumen and arterial lumen render the catheter less suitable for reversing fluid flow through the catheter. Reversibility of fluid flow through the catheter may be used to remove the formation of thrombus within an opening of the catheter. Thus, the staggered openings may disadvantageously indirectly result in a higher likelihood of flow occlusion within the catheter.
Therefore, it would be desirable to overcome the disadvantages and drawbacks of the prior art with a multiple lumen catheter minimizes the likelihood of recirculation without negatively affecting the ability of the catheter to eliminate thrombus formation. It would also be highly desirable if the catheter and its constituent parts are easily and efficiently manufactured and assembled.